1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a work table for a wood working machine or the like for receiving a work (e.g. a workpiece) thereon and attracting the work thereto by vacuum.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional work tables of the type mentioned are commonly constructed such that a work table is made hollow and a large number of air sucking holes are formed in an upper plate of the work table, and the work table and a blower are interconnected by way of a hose so as to put the inside of the work table into a negative pressure condition so that air may be sucked into the inside of the work table through the air sucking holes to attract a work directly to an upper face of the upper plate of the work table. An exemplary one of such conventional work tables is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Utility Model Publication Application No. 61-25962.
When an end face of a work is to be worked on a wood working machine which includes such a work table as described just above, such an auxiliary table 3 as shown in FIG. 5 is prepared which is smaller than a work table 1 and besides a little smaller than an area of a work 2 and is fixed to an upper plate 4 of the work table 1. The auxiliary table 3 has a large number of air sucking holes 6 formed in an upper plate 5 thereof and is opened at the bottom over the entire area thereof such that it may be acted upon by an air sucking action of a blower not shown by way of the hollow inside of the work table 1 and a large number of air sucking holes formed in the upper plate 4 of the work table 1. Those of the air sucking holes 7 of the work table 1 which are not covered with the auxiliary table 3 are covered with a separately prepared cover plate 8 from above. Thus, the work 2 is placed onto and attracted to the auxiliary table 3, and an end face 2a of the work 2 is worked by a tool 10 of a working head 9 while it is held in a spaced relationship above the upper plate 4 of the work table 1.
Such method, however, is disadvantageous in that it is uneconomical since a plurality of different auxiliary tables having different sizes must be prepared, and besides much labor is required for mounting and removing operations of an auxiliary table because, in working (e.g., tooling) a work having a different size, an auxiliary table must be exchanged each time the size must be changed. Also it is a disadvantage that, since a work must be carried into or out from a higher location by a distance equal to the height of an auxiliary table than the vertical position of the upper face of the work table, corresponding hard labor is required for carrying in and out operations of a work.